When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Such is the case of the Alpine A4810, a purely hypothetical hypercar designed by talented students from Istituto Europeo di Design. IED collaborated with Renault’s sporty brand to imagine a hydrogen-fueled performance vehicle for the year 2035. If you’re wondering about the meaning of its name, it represents a nod to the Mont Blanc’s peak, at 4,810 meters.
There are absolutely zero chances the Alpine A4810 will ever enter production, but that’s not stopping us from dreaming about it. The two-seater electric machine is quite large, measuring 5,091 mm in length and 2,010 mm in width. It sits dramatically low to the ground, at just 1,055 mm. IED has envisioned the hydrogen beast with a generous wheelbase stretching at 2,717 mm.
The outlandish virtual concept has almost nothing in common with the A110 on sale today, a mid-engined small coupe equipped with a turbocharged 1.8-liter gasoline engine. We can say the same thing about Alpine’s future models as the GT-X crossover, Renault 5-based hot hatchback, and coupe will all be battery-powered EVs.
However, parent company Renault is toying around with the idea of a hydrogen car. Not just any fuel cell vehicle, but one equipped with a combustion engine running on hydrogen. The idea is not entirely new as BMW has been experimenting with a similar powertrain for years. In addition, Toyota is currently testing the Yaris and Corolla with hydrogen-fueled combustion engines. As for Renault, it will unveil a concept car with this setup in May.
At the end of the day, the Alpine A4810 will likely go down purely as a design study. However, we wouldn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of some design cues trickling down to future production vehicles. One can only hope. In the meantime, it’s just wishful thinking on our part.
Source: Alpine